Ask Shego
by Alice Shade
Summary: Doctor Drakken is determined to show the world his worth - even if it calls for blundering into mind-boggling science no man boggled in before. Whereas Shego is just boggled.
1. And Along Comes Shego

Chapter 1. And along comes Shego...

Yet another brilliant, pure genuis, unabridged imagination running wild, yet incredibly, outrageously, ridiculously silly scheme had been falling apart at the seams. Well, maybe grandeur terms were a bit over the top, but yet again, that was the biggest scheme Dr. Drakken had yet dared to envision.

- Give it up, Shego!  
>- I wouldn`t count on it, Pumpkin... Eat plasma!<br>- Hah! Missed by a mile!

Blue man snapped out of his reverie at the shrieks of catfight. Time to act, he thought to himself... Or, at second thought, maybe it was a good time to arrange getaway means. He could not spot that annoying sidekick, nor equally annoying sidekick`s pet, which meant that something was about to go cardinally wrong. Sick and wrong, even.

Shaking his head, Drakken slammed his fist on the computer console. One minute and thirty six seconds until infusion chamber would be ready. Only ninety six moments. Approximately one hundred and fourty four heartbeats. Twelve squared. Twelve, heh, the twelve hours of a day. It could`ve as well been a day, Drakken thought. This plan had gone to smithereens. Almost half a million of dollars in bribes and technology down the drain. His eyes darted furtively towards infusion chamber. If he had any chance, he`d risk the odds and step in. Unfortunately, both all his mad scientist experience and primal gut feeling told him loud and clear one simple thing - "Do not even think about it, Drew." Casting one last glance on the setup, Drakken sucked his molar and turned around towards the door outside. Hovercraft should be in standby mode, and...

- AWW! Getitoff, getitoff, GETITOFFFF! AAAAARGH!

From the rafters, Ron shook his head, as he watched Dr. Drakken pontificating below. Blue man running around like headless chicken with naked mole rat on his face was a sight amusing enough to even distract Ron from his own predicament. Namely, his pants. At time, teen could`ve sworn that he is haunted by evil depanting spirit. This time, spirit had outdone itself, though. Regular depanting wouldn`t be so bad, but being suspended from rafters only by one pantleg and boot made Ron pretty nervous. He attempted to swing up and down to gain some momentum and maybe grab onto something, but regretted his decision. With vengeance, even. It was hard not to, because first thing he managed to do - rip his bootlace. Too bad that it was the same bootlace that held the boot anchoring his leg in pants. Within exactly thirty seven milliseconds Ron, boot and pants parted company.

- ...Thanks for the catch, KP!  
>- Uh, Ron, I`m over here.<br>- Then, who exactly cau...Au..Au... AUUUUUUUUGHH! WHGHAAAHAH! GAAAAAAAH! ...Sob.  
>- ...Hello... RON. Is there any chance you`ll get off my belly BEFORE I`ll burn second handprint on your arse?<p>

Shego was PISSED now. Breaking into sealed government laboratory had been annoying enough on it`s own at this particular day of lunar cycle. Let alone listening to yet another hairbrained Drakken`s scheme, helping him haul the equipment and dealing with Kim`s smug remarks. But THIS, this had been the last feather to break camel`s back. Bored? She could take that. Tired? That too. Annoyed? That happened more often then she cared to count. But having air and blood knocked out of her from opposite ends of body by flying heart-embroidered boxers? While with Buffoon INSIDE THEM! In a brief lapse of imagination she thought that that`s what being a nuclear meltdown feels like, before she let out her aggravation on hero team in a flurry of punches, kicks, plasma and gratuitious profanity.

Rufus briefly considered causing facial harm to his oversized opponent, but quickly decided against it. No sense tempting rabies or cheeze knows what else by biting on that mad scientist, there`s no way to know just where this face was before just a few minutes ago. With that rationalisation, Rufus had opted for simply hanging on madly to Drakken`s ears and hope not to fall off under his feet. Actually, naked mole rat noted with a measure of curiosity, Drakken could manage fairly mean tap dance, provided someone with sense of rhythm gave him a little guidance by tugging his ears. Sadly for Rufus, this entertaining discovery had to be abandoned, given the harsh reality of Ron`s pants about to make a landing on Drakken`s head.

- Jeronimo!

Crack. That didn`t felt like rat-thingy kind of crack, so Drakken had dared to open his eyes finally. It was still dark, but it was textile kind of dark, not naked mole rat kind of dark. It was also hardwood behind textile kind of dark.

- Ow. That smarts.

Gingerly plucking pants off his head, Drakken extended his index finger, and twice as gingerly touched the growing bump on his forehead, pushing the hardwood door open with free hand.

- Ow. Sheegoo! Time to leave.

Kim Possible considered her career and relatively short but surprisingly eventful life, and came to startling conclusion, that she was facing possibly the most ferocious martial assault at this current moment. Of course, most likely it had something to do with defending hapless Ron from Shego`s wrath, right now. Given that Ron was still more then a little preoccupied with the sorry state of his singed rear, Kim had to depend on her capabilities to keep Shego from singing off his head as well. Not that she really blamed her for being pissed at Ron at this particular moment, mind, but still she had to preserve what tentative connection her sidekick had with his brain containment vessel.

She momentarily considered using knockout gas capsule on Shego, but she had used one previous time as well, and showing any kind of pattern proved to be mondo bad idea, when it concerned fighting Shego. Giving momentary consideration to several of the other available options, she had settled on plan most likely to succeed, if she had read the level of Shego`s anger just right. Faking a low kick, which Shego had anticipated, she attempted to punch Shego in head - an effort just as easily anticipated and thwarted with preliminary high kick to the head. Having anticipated this move, Kim backflipped over the Ron to keep away from Shego`s foot - yet another routinely expected martial stunt.

Shego snarled at the invitation to leave. Oh she would, she definitely would, but first, she had planned on some intense fat-burning experience for a certain pantless Stoppable. Cramp in her stomach had really disagreed with over hundred and fifty pounds of alive meat suddenly compressing it, and when her cramps disagreed with her, Shego saw red. She had left her guard seemingly open on the low, expecting Kim to fake a kick. Just as she anticipated, fake had came, followed by high punches which she preemptied with a high kick, which made Possible flip back over Stoppable to keep her chin intact. Just as she anticipated. Shego had lunged forward, seemingly over the Ron, to catch up on Kim.

Redhead rolled low from her backflip, doing her best to stop close to Ron. Per her expectation, Shego had lunged after her. Or, more precisely, faked lunging after her, aiming for Ron instead. As Kim planned. It was slightly mean to Ron, to use him as a bait like this, but then again, he should`ve known better then to sit on Shego, right? Still, what she was about to do felt a bit mean. Oh well. She`ll apologise later. Surely Ron would be in a very apology-accepting mood having been saved from Shego, now wouldn`t he? With that little bit of rationalisation, Kim rammed both of her feet into Ron`s bum, sending him sliding under Shego, and ultimately way behind her back.

- OW!

Shego growled in frustration. Kim knew her as well as she knew redhead, it seemed. In the split moment, green woman could do nothing but watch as buffoon slid under her in opposite direction. Then she had steeled herself for incoming collision with Kim Possible.

- Ghhh-OW!  
>- Sorry.<p>

Kim felt even meaner now. Subtle feminine hints had given her a reason to suspect that Shego has a bodily cause to be even more irritable especially today, and she felt a bit down about planting her knee in Shego`s gut. But then again, that had sent Shego heads-first over her as well, and for that Kim was grateful. There was no telling WHAT would green female do to her if she landed on top of cheerleader like she was originally going to. BONGK!

Shego saw stars. Right, that was LOW. Especially so for goody-goody teen, she thought, as blackness in her eyes slowly gave way to metallic glint. A twofer - knee in gut and then head-first into metal panel. Which was now dented by collision. She had to give Kim five points for execution, she decided. It`s been a while since she`s been solidly slammed like that. Of course, that meant that her mood went from merely insanely angry into giddily homicidal, too, but Kimmie just had to roll with that, now. Noone asked her for kneeing in stomach, that much was sure.

Kim flipped over, ready to pounce Shego from behind, and in infinitelysmall chance of irish luck shining on her, managing to restrain green fighter somehow, when her eye spotted IT. Namely, the open door of the capsule she had flipped Shego in. Acting on a snap decision, she had yanked the metal slab down. It went surprisingly easy, soft murring of well-oiled hydraulic shafts suggesting that this bit of tech was from what Drakken and Shego brought in.

Drakken bit his lip. His gut shrieked at him - "RED ALERT, RED ALERT, DEFCON 1, TAKE OFF ALL ZIG FOR GREAT JUSTICE!" In short, he was ironclad, concrete-block sure that something bad was about to happen. Physically bad. Ballistically bad, even, he corrected the term, as he observed the graceful arc of boot bouncing from one rafter into another, against the light fixture, and right on the control panel, where a conveniently red button expected the heel eagerly.

- Upload sequence queued. ETA - fifty seconds!... Fourty nine... Fourty eight... WARNING! WARNING! Secondary coil power levels exceeding safe margin by twenty three percents! Initiating failsafe shunts into primary coil! WARNING! WARNING! Energy spike detected! Operation levels exceeded, initiating upload sequence!

Drakken signed in dejection. Normally, that announcement would make him jump in joy. Although in a part that would be due to the fact that his new russian suppliers were not lying about tantalic enrichment after all, he just loved the sound of experiment announcements. They made him feel giddy. However, he felt that giddyness would be unappropriate right now, given that this experiment was doomed to failure without... the... sub..ject?... Subject?... SUBJECT? Upload sequence would be aborted without subject... BUT! But, but, but... he was not in the camera. So who was in ... In... In...

Thump. Kim whipped around sharply at the sound of announcement. She had just enough time to process the information and see the boot solidly planted against the button with word "Start!" all over it to observe Drakken fainting flat on his back. Something wicked this way came, her own gut told her, and she whipped around again, just in time to see Shego slamming plasma-encased fist through the glass panel in front of capsule door. Stupefied, she flinched back, expecting the ball of plasma that never came. Sharp electric crack had snapped her out of shock, and she sprinted towards capsule. Hoping, that Wade did not made a mistake, she grabbed the bottom of the capsule door and gave it a hard yank, pulling open what she had just slammed close less then two and half seconds ago. It seemed that Wade made no mistake - despite the continued electric crackling, she felt absolutely no shock, which meant that her gloves indeed were insulated against even industrial-voltage electricity. But then again, it could be also that there was no voltage through the metal, already.

Ron gingerly felt his face. This mission did not agree with him. First, he lost pants, then he had been branded by Shego, and now he was expecting his eyes to fall out of sockets from the shock. He was pretty sure that unless it was a part of original plan, Shego had no intention or means to live through that shock. And it did not seem she did have either, given the classic "reach through window before getting dead" scene that just occured before him. When Kim yanked the capsule open, he turned away quickly. His stomach was already churning from the smell of his singed buttock and the fact he thought it smells yummy. He so did not need to see another pile of fried human meat.

Shego grabbed her head with both hands, and kept still for a few seconds, waiting for some kind of reassurance that all her body parts are still connected properly to each other. When she dared to test the connection, she found that nothing was severed, much to her satisfaction. Of course, she still tried not to think about everything that was supposed to fill up those body parts. She was fairly certain she had sneezed out her brain when her heart lodged itself in her throat.

Kim peeked into the capsule gingerly. And chuckled. Leave it to Drakken to fail when necessary, she thought merrily, as she examined dazed Shego. For all that mattered, she could not see any injuries on green woman, which was enough to lift her spirits. She was SO not looking to starting her bodycount list today.

- Shego?... Are you hurt?  
>- Pumpkin. Preliminary examination suggests I am not. Although I`d wait for doctor`s confirmation to be certain. Preferably doctor of non-blue kind.<br>- Bwuh?  
>- Oh. Right. Do you suppose we can call truce for today? I`m quite... Beside myself, so to speak.<br>- Guh.  
>- Really? You`re such a sweetheart, Princess.<p>

Peck. Kim grabbed her head, and held on to it as tight as she could. She was not sure it did not disconnected from the smooch. The fact that Shego just all but flirted with her, talked her way out of being booked AND kissed her on the cheek made her head reel. She could feel her fragmented thoughts rumbling as they flipped and tumbled inside her suddenly emptied skull.

Ron rubbed his eyes. Right, that was sick and wrong. Actually no. Not sick and wrong. Sick and Wrong! He did not felt it was adequately strong enough without capital letters and exclamation point. WHAT was THAT about? What did Shego do, even, and since then did she have sexy ray attacks like that? And if it was not a sexy ray, then WHAT IN BLAZES did she do to Kim? And even more importantly, what could he do to get some of that? Rrrowl.

Shego slung still unconscious Drakken over her shoulder, and jumped into the hovercraft, shrugging blue lump into the seat next to her as she worked controls, small vehicle skipping away from the building. She swerved to the side and pushed down throttle a little, using the stretch of concrete road as a take-off ramp for a long jump over the fence and off into Nevada plains, tiny craft quickly fading in the horison. Sadly, the irony of driving away in UFO-like craft was wasted, only witness being old crooked sign "Area 51. Restricted Area." 


	2. Land Of Confusion

Chapter 2. Land of Confusion.

- Wait, Shego, let me get this straight. Had my scheme actually succeeded?  
>- Technically, yes. Although I suppose you were going to be in the infusion chamber personally.<br>- Why, yes, but... KIM POSSIBLE! You think you`re all that, but you`re NOT! You hear!  
>- I don`t think she does, Dr. D. You can always call her house and tell her, however, if you feel so inclined.<br>- Why, that`s a brilliant idea, I... I... Wait. Uh... Let`s start over, please. I`m so confused.  
>- If you say so.<p>

Shego sat confortably on the recliner with a cup of coffee in hand. She supposed that situation had called for feelings of surprise, incredulosity, flabbergastment and maybe even jubilation, given that Dr. Drakken`s scheme had actually worked in a way he intended to, for once. Well, almost in a way, she reminded herself, as scheming doctor had intended to be the one to reap the results. Well, as far as things went, she could not complain. Maybe that would be the best gift Drakken had ever given her throughout the whole duration of their cooperative work.

- So... Are you saying, that despite the interference of Possible, Buffoon and that rat thing, I had actually managed to upload the entirety of Echelon four into your brain?  
>- That much is correct. Although, once again, I have to remind you that you were wrong in assumption that ICBM launch codes are present somewhere within databases. Additionally, you had grossly underestimated the capacity of biological brain.<br>- Give me a break here, Shego. Noone ever attempted to measure information capacity limits for human brain. Current consensus seems to be leaning towards assuming it`s infinite in regards to amount of information we`re capable of perceiving throughout our lifetime. I`ve been acting on my best approximation I could get from published works. And before you say that, NO, I could not do statistic analysis to check, since I had no database on everything and anything on the tips of my fingers back then. It was only reasonable to err in safe side.  
>- Indeed.<br>- I really... what?  
>- Indeed, I said. Your reasons are more or less correct, the fact of gratuitious hand-flinging on your part nonwithstanding.<br>- I... er... What?  
>- You fling your arms around when you are agitated. Which, I have to say, is pretty much anytime you attempt to explain anything. Up to, and including the proper ways to eat a sandwich.<br>- ...Sorry.  
>- I`m just observing the fact. Drink your CocoMoo. You tend to make small mistakes when you`re agitated. Which agitates you even more. As you can imagine, your consequent mistakes and agitation snowball from there on.<br>- Sorry. Heh. Heheheh. Heh. Heh.

Drakken finally stopped his pacing, only to grab the mug of CocoMoo and down a big gulp. Surprisingly, it did help to calm him down a little. He still kept giggling around the mug, however, as he peered on Shego with eyes full of almost childish enthusiasm. His scheme. Working at last. Not like he intended, not on whom he intended, but it DID WORKED! And he had a result. That alone was worth all the expense and labor.

- Is there anything amusing about conversation?  
>- Heh. Heheheh. No, I guess not. I just can`t get around the fact you talk like councellor now.<br>- A lot of irritation comes from not understanding. As you can guess, having capacity to understand anything known to humanity does tend to bring a lot of peace and mirth into a person`s mind. Wouldn`t quite call it nirvana, but it`s pretty close, I suppose.  
>- I.. I`m envious. And... Uh. I`m sorry, for what`s it worth. Now when I think of it, it sounds like utterly insane plan.<br>- You do realise that if it did not worked, this admission would cause you a lot of bodily harm?  
>- Uh... Um... Gah! I.. I`m sorry!<br>- Drink your CocoMoo.  
>- Sorry.<p>

Dr. Drakken grabbed his mug of CocoMoo again, and downed it abruptly, his fingers shaking. It did not sunk in just WHAT did he do until now. And now when it did, he was scared. His plan actually worked, and... And by the spirit of Einstein, he was terrified of what he created. Thanks to his meddling, Shego had became as close to omniscient as concievably possible. He suddenly felt like Herostrat. Greek man had burned down the temple to become famous. Blue man was about to become famous as the man who created first practical goddess... Through the convoluted series of criminal blunders. Irony of the situation had given him a raging hard-on he had concealed by pacing strictly behind the table. Never before he had blundered with something as dangerous, and it was making him dizzy with emotional high.

- Although it is entertaining to watch your battle with emotions, I believe you`re due for bath, Dr. D. Try to keep your wig on - last thing you need is flipping out right now.  
>- Yes. Yes... You are right. Gosh, this is unsettling. You could never be wrong now, can you?<br>- Not in the conventional sense of word, no. Nothing bars me from intentionally lying, however. So I still would think over what you hear from me, if I were you.  
>- Heh. Heheh. Right. Of course. Heheheheh. Well, bath now. Heheheh.<p>

With the last nervous chuckle trailing behind him, Drakken headed out, gingerly closing the door behind him. As soon as the door clicked into the place, rapid staccatto of steps told Shego that blue scientist had lost his nerve and run off like a bat out of hell. That much did not bother her, however. Given that Drakken somehow managed to survive till mid-thirties relatively intact, she was content to leave him be. Actually, given her newfound knowledge, she had a bit more faith in Drakken`s survival skills. If he could last that long while coping with his undisputably unconventional mental issues, he could definitely deal with her newfound insight. Within reasonable, of course.

She peeked into her mug. Coffee. A complex mix of water, caffeine, sucrose, tanine, several acids and alcaloids, proteins, lipides, carbohydrates, ether oils and other less pronounced chemicals. There was so much more to simple cup of coffee now. So much more to everything. She supposed that situation had called for an epiphany. Preferably somewhere in the park. Something in the venue of "World is beautiful and I`m happy to be a part of it." She had even dedicated about three seconds towards modeling whole situation, after which her curiosity had been satisfied.

- Enough of self-aggrandisement.

With that, Shego left the room. To refill her cup of coffee and come back in. She had a lot of information processing to do. Initially, her mind had settled on the concept of thinking, but she had discarded the idea as rough. What she was doing was definitely not thinking. She did not extrapolate any new facts as much as sorted out what she already had in mind. It took her about four cups of coffee over three hours to finally settle the disorder in her head into some kind of sequence. Much to her amusement, she realised that Drakken, although long done with his anxiety attack and bath, had given her wide berth on simple grounds that she were thinking. That did not stop him from writing down a list of facts he wanted her to check through.

Drakken paced from corner to corner of his laboratory. Now everything rode on Shego. He felt pretty helpless, knowing that everything in his further plans depended on his sidekick. He made mental note not to think of her as of a sidekick from now on, given she could easily deduce his thoughts now. But then again, if he is right, and those facts DO align exactly as he had thought, then... Then he was about to achieve his triumph.

Brief knock interrupted his nervous pacing. He glanced up and invited whoever knocked to come in. His hoarse tone made it obvious he knew who`s been knocking to be Shego. She stepped into his laboratory, and closed the door behind herself. Blue scientist had looked up on her, hope and expectation written all over his face.

- Yes.  
>- ...Yes?<br>- Yes. You definitely have some interesting mental issues, Dr. D.  
>- Oh.<br>- There`s hardly any other explanation as to how did you manage to think up this insanity and be right about it.  
>- ...OH?<br>- According to what I have, odds are about nine hundred thirty seven promille in your favor.  
>- ...YES!<p>

Drakken pumped his fist, and did impromptu victory dance around his laboratory table, his nervousness forgotten for a brief minute or two. Then he stopped and peeked at Shego self-consciously. Much to his surprise, she just shrugged dismissively and offered him to carry on. Which he did for whopping three seconds until his brains finally kicked in and told him that he should look sheepish. Which, again, he did.

- And what about the code?  
>- As I`ve told you before, I`m not in possession of bona fide codes. However, heuristic analysis of White House communications throughout the last decade suggests that sequence "" is a good choice to try.<br>- Alpha. Six. Two. Zero. Echo. Nine. Eight. Echo. Echo. Four. Echo. Eight. Four. Three. Zero. Echo. Three. Nine. Foxtrot. Delta. Eight. One. Zero. Two. Bravo. Five. Alpha. Foxtrot. One. Nine. Delta. Two.  
>- Correct.<br>- ...Come on... Cooome On... COME ON... YESS! I`m in. I`m IN!  
>- And...?<br>- ...Yes.  
>- I`ll be at the observation gallery. Given what you`re about to do, that would be very amusing to watch.<br>- Wait for me!  
>- For what exactly reason? After all, it`s you who will be launching that ICBM. If anyone could wait for you, it would be you yourself.<br>- Oh... Right. Duh. Alright, then don`t wait for me. I`ll be up there as soon as I`ll settle things here!  
>- Right-o.<p>

Mad scientist looked a bit preoccupied as of the moment, his movement only a bit less then frenzied as he run around the laboratory double, triple and quadruplechecking anything and everything to make sure his grandest plan yet will not go unnoticed. Shego chuckled, and walked out, closing the door behind her. She had about enough time to make one more cup of coffee, and raid her room for sunglasses and cigarettes. Given the show about to start, she wouldn`t want to miss it for world... But it did not meant that she could not make herself as comfortable as she wanted to watch it. 


	3. Atomic Garden

Chapter 3. Atomic Garden.

- Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. BUZZ!  
>- ...Right. What`s the sitch, Wade?<br>- Drakken and Shego are up at it again.  
>- Again! But we just whooped them at Area 51 just this morning.<br>- Hey, don`t look at me. Mad scientists are not exactly most predictable creatures. Maybe whole debacle at Area 51 was just a distraction. After all, they took absolutely nothing from there, and trust me, there were things to make any mad scientist drool a poodle.  
>- Yeah, well, maybe I was just that good to stop them before they took anything.<br>- That`s possible, too. Oh well, you up to dealing with them once more?  
>- Fine. What are they up to?<br>- Well, it appears that Drakken is up to ecological terrorism now. Satellites detected multiple delivery explosions in lower stratosphere above Mojave desert. As of currently, approximately five tons of silver iodide had been dispersed in atmosphere. It seems that he is trying to force rain, but there is also significant amount of carbon fiber detected, and other chemicals. Unfortunately, I don`t have any idea about what exactly Drakken is trying to accompish - things just don`t add up there. I`ll keep you posted if I`ll figure something out.  
>- Please and thank you. Got a ride arranged already, I take it?<br>- Yep. Major Hatfield`s giving you a lift today.

Ron squirmed on his seat, trying to make himself more comfortable. It still hurt to sit down properly. Fortunately, he and Kim were alone in a chopper cabin designed for eight marines, so he had enough space for his wiggles. Kim zoned out on him a while ago, and was catching forty winks before the mission, so Ron was left to his own devices for now. He wished he brought tetris along - this was sure getting boring. He was about to consent to be bored, for now, when Kimmunicator started buzzing. Figuring he`d better answer the call before it would wake up Kim, he pulled it out of her pocket, and thumbed it on.

- Hey, Wade. Got anything new for us?  
>- Oh, hey, Ron. Yes, you can say that... Where`s Kim? I`ve got something, but it`s better I tell you both.<br>- Oh, she`s sleeping. Don`t worry, I`ll tell her when she`ll wake up.  
>- ...Ron, wake her up now, please. It`s the kind of news she needs to know immediately.<br>- Can`t it wait? I mean, she, like, gets no sleep at all.  
>- Ron. It looks like Drakken had hijacked ICBM. So wake up Kim NOW.<br>- ...The wha?  
>- NUKE. Drakken has the nuke.<br>- Gulp!

Ron`s hands suddenly started shaking so much he pretty much woke Kim up simply by putting hand on her shoulder. She peeked at him, irritated at first, then concerned when she took in his look. Figuring she had little chance of getting anything coherent out of him now, she snatched Kimmunicator out of his hand with a small grunt.

- Right. Wade, what did you tell him to make him spaz like this?  
>- There is a good chance that Drakken had hijacked an ICBM with nuclear warhead on board. Apparently he was trying to download ICBM launch codes earlier today at Area 51 where you put the beat on him. It seems he`s got one, after all.<br>- ...Are you telling me that Drakken has control over the ballistic nuke?  
>- I`m not certain yet, but there`s a good chance he does. If he does, there`s no telling where he might launch it.<br>- Great. Just great. Can`t you just inform Global Justice so they`d impound the compromised nuke or something?  
>- ...No. Nuclear arms are under jurisdiction of NORAD. Although Global Justice is meant to handle terrorists, there`s no way NORAD will just let them into the silo. Actually, all that we get is second-hand information about one of remote silos being compromised. They wouldn`t admit there is a nuke on it, either, but uh... I sort of know all ICBMs out "there" are live. Indication points that signal sent to it came from around Mojave desert, which makes me believe Drakken`s behind all this, but as I said, I`m not even sure about it all.<br>- Keep me updated, Wade. This is big. Drakken never went for something that actually works before... And please, do whatever you can to find out what else he could`ve gotten in Area 51. I`ve a hunch that this sitch is going to be a nasty one.  
>- On it, Kim. And...Hey, you two, be careful, alright?<p>

Despite the grave warning, they`ve arrived to place without accident. In fact, arrival was as trivial as landing on a tarmac. Drakken`s hideout turned out to be one of the big villa/research campus kind of constructions, built half-way into the cliffs in Spring Mountains. For once, a good spot, surmised Kim, as she took in the panoram below, complete with Las Vegas on horison. It would be probably even better at night, she pondered. Of course, given that Drakken had been keeping up gradual saturation of stratosphere with chemicals, it`s been pretty murky day already. "He couldn`t be taking another swing at it with his weather machine, now could he?" - redhead pondered, as she waved Ron to follow, and slinked easily over the fence separating tarmac from hideout proper. Silence inside did not bothered her much - given the recent encounters with Drakken, Kim was fairly certain that Drakken either had an obvious trap prepared already, or was still blissfully unaware.

Day was not good for Ron man, he opined silently, as he dived after his partner into the ventilation shaft, only to have his pants yanked off by the sinister grate lock. Groaning, he adjusted them and followed Kim as quietly as he could. This is a trap, for sure, Ron concluded, as he fell out of vent hole and landed on the sofa. Sofa. Wait. He examined sofa for pissed-off green villainnesses. None found. That made him much more comfortable with current situation. Maybe just for once, he got genuinely lucky.

- OOF!

Kim fell out of the same hole after Ron, landing squarely on his back. She was caught completely off-guard when the duct she was in suddenly swung upwards, teen heroine literally slipping out of it before she could somehow anchor herself within the duct. As she gathered her thoughts for a second, she saw grate that covered the hole previously to their spiel flip back upwards and lock back to make it a part of ceiling. Trap. What`s worse, a trap that really blindsided her. Either Drakken suddenly got double extra helping of common sense, or that trap was set by someone else. Kim`s money was on Shego.

- KP... Not that I say anything about your weight, but can you please get off my back? I`m, like, still under you, remember.  
>- Oh. Sorry, Ron.<p>

Ron inhaled fresh air triumphantly, as Kim rolled off him and on the floor. Sweet oxygen. He rolled off after Kim, and examined their doom... boudoir? Furniture was definitely not of trap kind. Neither was wall window.

- KP...? This is like, real weird.  
>- Duh. Even Drakken wouldn`t mix up lounge and deathtrap. Unless he`s got in his head to "lull us into false sense of security". You check the furniture, I`ll check the walls.<br>- On it, KP.

Although sound, plan was cut short by Ron. More directly, by him finding a note on the night table near the sofa they floundered on. He read it aloud, trying to wrap his brain around it.

- "Dear Kim and Ron.

Without a doubt, you`re at the moment searching for hidden deathtraps in the room you`ve ended up in. Although you might not believe it without preliminary check, this room is entirely safe lounge with a panoramic view on Las Vegas.  
>Please, do feel free to observe Las Vegas from there, if you so wish. However, if you`d rather prefer to visit us first, you can find us in observation gallery tower. Turn left when you leave this room. In the end of corridor you`ll find a door to staircase. Hopefully you don`t mind a little jog - it`s about quartermile up the stairs. Unfortunately, we had to take elevator offline for a bit of maintenance.<p>

With love, Drakken and Shego.  
>XOXO<p>

P.S. We`re afraid that from that point, radio communications will be limited to short-distance due to excessive interference of all the particles in atmosphere above. Although you`re likely to still be capable to reach your transportation on radio, contact with your hacker would be impossible until later."

Kim blinked. Then took letter from Ron and reread it again, trying to make any kind of sense from it. It was too weird. She didn`t knew what to do. She checked communications - true, she was unable to reach Wade, altough she was able to hear major Hatfield on the radio over the static. Major and his helicopter were still on the tarmac, on standby for evacuation if such would be necessary. According to Hatfield, things looked weird from his angle too. He had been busying himself by setting the parabolic narrow-beam radio receiver to circumvent the interference by picking only signal from the Las Vegas USAF base. Before interference got too bad, though, he was fairly certain he heard beginning of emergency broadcast, so he and his crew were doing their best to reestablish transmission.

Having no other options, hero team had consented to follow the instructions left on paper. They were true to the letter. Just to be sure, Rufus had checked several nearby doors and confirmed that he had no capability to unlock either, locks being chip-ID operated. Although Kim could`ve opened any door with her laser lipstick, she knew it would take insane amounts of time to open all of them. And since she had no way of picking the correct door out of seven present, she had to adhere to instructions in the letter.

Ron was not particularly happy about hiking up the spiral stairs, but then again, it sure beat fighting henchmen or, shudder, monkeys. He tried to count just how many steps he made, but lost count after two hundred seventy sixth. In his opinion, it was already two miles, but sadly, his opinion had little to do with reality. But he was definitely cheered up with the familiar bing of Kimmunicator. A time to rest his feet a bit, while Kim talked. Too bad for him.

- ...What`s up, major?  
>- KIM? KIM, get the hell out of there this instant!<br>- What, WHY!  
>- Incoming ICBM! You have less then three minutes until it reaches you. Helicopter needs at least a minute to take off and clear blast zone, so double it back here wherever you are!<br>- WHAT?... This is nuts!  
>- Drakken IS nuts, remember? GET OUT OF THERE.<br>- ...Major. You get out of there.  
>- What? NO, I`m not leaving you down there!<br>- Listen, it`s not US who`s in danger right now. We`re inside a hideout, and whatever Drakken is, he`s not suicidal. So I`m sure this place is safer then what`s gonna be outside. Get out of here and come back to pick us up when the dust settles.  
>- NO. Get out of there this instant. I can`t leave without you.<br>- ...Major, there`s absolutely no way we`ll make it out in less then ten minutes.  
>- DAMN!<br>- Look, don`t worry. We`re pretty close to where Drakken and Shego are. I`m sure that we can reach THEM before ICBM hits, and that place will be definitely safe.  
>- I hate it, but you have a point here... Fine, we`re leaving. But we`ll be with the bells on as soon as this thing is over. And not alone.<br>- Get out now! We`ll be fine here.  
>- Roger. Hatfield out.<p>

Kim showed Kimmunicator in pocket, and shuddered. Things were going... Bad. Why the hell would Drakken aim nuke at his own... wa.. wait... NO! She yanked Kimmunicator out of pocket again, and screamed into it.

- MAJOR!  
>- ...Yes, Kim?<br>- Nuke is not heading here! Drakken means to hit Las Vegas!  
>- NUKE! What are you talking about!<br>- ...That ICBM!  
>- WHAT? NORAD claims it`s unloaded. It`s the leftover fuel explosion that we`re afraid of.<br>- ...No way in hell. Major, there IS a nuke on this ICBM. Drakken hit Area 51 this morning for launch codes. I`m ironclad certain that IS a real nuke. Drakken isn`t sane enough to fake something like that.  
>- NORAD could`ve easily duped him into thinking it is real nuke, though. Area 51 is defunct, remember.<br>- ...Even so, this is irrelevant. This thing is heading for the city. If you were afraid for my safety, I think that Las Vegas is quite endangered as well.  
>- Damn it all to hell! We`re going back to base to help with evacuation. Hang tight there, as soon as that bloody missile is out of the sky, we`re coming back for you and that blue maniac. Think you can get him packed up by the time we`ll be back?<br>- Hah, so not the drama, major.

Redhead thumbed the device off, and grabbed Ron`s hand, pulling him after her, as she barreled up the stairs, intent on causing some serious bodily harm to Drakken for once. Ron stumbled after her, still somewhat shellshocked from conversation intensity but more or less relieved about not having to deal with nuke.

- Huff... Puff. KP, are we going to put serious beat on Drakken this time?  
>- Heck yea! Deathrays in his own lair are one thing, but launching real missile at Las Vegas is just rotten.<br>- Then, pant, pant... Slow down, cause the DOOOORR!... *ba-dumb*  
>- Guh. That`s what you get for distracting me, Ron.<br>- OW. That sure smarts.  
>- Come on, you big baby. It`s not even locked.<p>

With that, Kim had pushed the door open and strode in. There`s hardly been any time at all to dispense on stealth, so she purposefully made sure she`s as obvious as she can, hoping to draw attention on her. Ron, as always, would go after Drakken, she rationalised, scanning the big room for Shego. Then she blinked. Then Ron blinked. Then Rufus blinked. Then they all blinked together. And one more time.

- Ahh. Greetings, Kim Possible and Buffoon. You think you`re all that, but you`re not!  
>- Ahem...<br>- Er... Right, what I meant to say, greetings. Care to take a seat and watch the spectacle with us?  
>- ...Spectacle?...<br>- Why, yes. It`s... Hm, seven seconds before the start. Impeccable timing, I have to note - just enough to grab a seat and get comfortable for you two.  
>- Why, you, you... MANIAC!<br>- Ho-hum... I suppose you want the rant about this caper, no?  
>- WHAT the hell are you thinking, Drakken, dropping a missile on Las Vegas!<br>- ...The what?  
>- I do believe you are mistaken, Pumpkin. Although yes, ICBM was launched per our command, Las Vegas itself is not the intended target. Point of detonation is exactly eight miles above sea level. It will occur above Stratosphere tower in Las Vegas.<br>- BWUH? Explosion?  
>- 17.3 megaton clean nuclear blast. Simple one-stage plutonium core. Minimal fallout, perfect for my scheme here.<br>- ...Hah. So full of yourself, Drakken.  
>- As I`ve predicted, Dr. D. NORAD denied the presence of nuke aboard the ICBM.<br>- So you did... But, it`s high time to put on your dark glasses.  
>- WHAAAAAAT!...<p>

FLASH. Tower`s windows momentarily turned black, suppressing most of flash, but what went in was enough to dim team Possible`s vision for a few moments. Three seconds passed in eerie silence, and then the rumble of explosion reached the tower. Floor shook under their feet, as the roar increased in volume, and then settled down, windows turning transparent again slowly.

Outside, it was raining cats and dogs.


	4. Player One

Chapter 4. Player One.

Blinking the flash out of her eyes, teen hero sprung into action... Only to be boffed back by invisible forcefield. It felt as if she had run into the rubber wall - pushing harder only got her pushed back harder. Redhead grumbled silently, looking for any vulnerability. Given it was Drakken, she expected to find one easily. Like, conveniently obvious power cord or something akin to that. Alas, no such luck.

- Pumpkin, I would not recommend to try reaching us right now. Reverse field could be quite unforgiving, if you apply too much force. On a side note, while your laser won`t be held by it, I still recommend against using it - there is nothing in this room you can destroy to cancel the field. Not to mention Dr. D here will do something to make you stop. Like lowering ceiling on you.  
>- Indeed I would. Just give me a reason to! I`ve had it with you Possibles stomping all over my dreams again and again. Not this time, though. This time I`m getting all the recognition my genuis deserves! Hear that, Kim Possible? You think you`re ALL THAT, BUT...<br>- Ahem.  
>- YOU`RE NOT!... Um. Oh... Um. Sorry.<br>- Drink your cocomoo, Dr. D. No need to get all worked up when plan comes together.  
>- Heh.. Heheh. Yes, of course. Of course.<p>

Kim slouched, and peered at Ron. He shrugged back. No sense trying for Ron factor in the empty space. Apparently, Drakken REALLY did homework this time. Otherwise, he wouldn`t be lounging on the other side of forcefield in hawaiian-print bathrobe. Nor would Shego speak like school councellor or lounging in green&black swimsuit on the other side of the darn forcefield. At least, she had words to hurl at maniac across the room. Maybe THAT would piss him off into doing something stupid.

- Ever thought of getting some reasonable dreams, Drakken? Something, say, involving actual science instead of willy-nilly destruction, if you`re so much of a genuis?  
>- Ah, come on! You can`t spell "breakthrough" without "break", you know.<br>- You come on! People don`t call you genius, so the drama. And you blow up Las Vegas for that? Well, guess what - you`re still every bit as stupid. A baboon could`ve pressed the button and blown the city just as well, Mr. I-am-genius!  
>- Hah! I`m afraid all the stupid ones are on your side of forcefield, Ms. Morality. After all, I`ve not destroyed Las Vegas.<br>- WHAAT?

Drakken grinned a wide victor`s grin, and gestured towards the window. Despite the haze of rain, Las Vegas was seen quite clearly. No ruins, no fires, nothing out of ordinary.

- Great. So you blundered even that. Give up, Drakken. Sooner we`ll get over with this, the better for you.  
>- I beg to differ, Ms. Smarty-Pants. I had no intention to destroy Las Vegas to begin with. Nuclear explosion was necessary for entirely different purpose... Though I doubt the merits of explaining it to you, given your, ahem, lack of mental capacity to understand the current situation.<p>

Redhead fumed. So far, verbal war didn`t turn out as she expected. But then again, nothing went her way in this mission to begin with. She needed something to turn the tides. Ron factor? Possibly, but better look for something else too, while Ron works his business. She busied herself with looking pissed off, while scanning the surroundings much more intensely, looking for any detail to help her, no matter how insignificant. Meanwhile, Ron went in with a barrage of questions of his own.

- Uh, Dr. Drakken? Can you, you know, explain that in simple terms for us non-sciency folk here. I mean, since you`re not trying to kill us or something... I hope.  
>- Pfah. Why should I? You don`t even make an effort to understand. Noone does.<br>- Ahem.  
>- ...Um, right. Except Shego. But she understands more then that... Yeah.<br>- Ahem again. Dr. D, I suggest that you attempt to explain your plan. After all, they are representatives of demographic majority and I`m aware that you are capable of explaining your discovery sufficiently simple to be grasped by average Joe. Just keep it cool and don`t forget to drink cocomoo.  
>- Oh? ...Oh. Uh. Right. Alright then... Well, ...er... Buffoon, or whatever. It`s simple, really. What is nuclear explosion, first off? Quite simple, it`s just one of the crudest and simplest ways to apply large amount of energy in limited space and short time. Obviously, it`s very destructive, because it`s not controlled. Alternative is to make bomb "explode" for years - which is the principle of nuclear powerplant. But neither of that is suitable for me. I need a large amount of energy at once for my creation, but I need it controlled to be useable. Are you following so far?<br>- Uh... yeah. Sorta. So you needed a lot of energy at once? Is that a deathray again or something?  
>- ...Pshaw. Do you swat flies with mallet, per any chance, eh, buffoon? Death ray of that power would be useless on the ground. Now, if I were to place it in orbit, I could`ve used nuke to start off the death ray blast down to the surface. Good idea too, by the way... Hmmm...<br>- Indeed. Which is why seventeen Lancer satellites were commissioned in sixties. I do believe nine of them are still in orbit, too. Others were decommissioned when cold war ended.  
>- Drat. Well, I guess it was too obvious of an idea not to be used before. Anyway, that`s not what I have in mind here at all. Which is why nuclear explosion went off in the lower stratosphere, among the particle cloud I`ve been engineering since morning.<br>- Particle... cloud?  
>- Particles, buffoon. Like dust, fog, mist. That kind of particles. Lower stratosphere ahove Mojave had been saturated with silver iodide, carbon fiber, Lasarus vector and EvA compound. Which, I have to add, I`ve been pumping up in air since morning. Quite delicate task, too, at that. But it worked out just fine.<br>- Uh... So what does explosion have to do with dust in air?  
>- Ah. That`s the beauty of my plan. Dust is a conduit for blast energy. Like electric wire is conduit for electricity.<br>- I still don`t get it. Conduit to where? This tower?  
>- ...Heavens forefend, no. Why would I ever want THAT? No, definitely not. It`s much, much simpler. See, floral life is very dependant on sun as a source of energy. Photosynthesis, and all that jazz. Without this energy, most plants don`t grow at all. But plants also need sufficient water to use that energy to power their chemistry. Here, at Mojave, only a few plants grow naturally because there`s too much of sun and too little of water. So I figured a way to change that. Saturate atmosphere with silver iodide to cause rain, Lasarus vector, which would seed the pseudoplants that perform irrigation function, EvA compound, which amplifies the mutation rate of flora manifold, and finally - carbon fiber to provide some basic building material and focusing medium for nuclear energy, and...<br>- ...Uhhhhhhh...

Although Kim at first ignored the conversation, exposition of plan called her attention again. And she did caught the implication in Drakken`s explanation. But it was too ludicrous to be true. It had to be. But she could not shake the uneasy feeling, and she knew she must ask directly.

- ...Drakken. Are you seriously telling me that you stole and blew up a nuke to terraform Mojave?  
>- Hah. Astute observation, Kim Possible. I guess your dad taught you something, after all.<br>- But... WHY!  
>- Because I can. And because noone else did that. Because I want to rub it in the face of your dad and his buddies, and gloat. Because none of them had managed something THAT big.<br>- ...You`re terraforming Mojave... to one-up my dad and his colleagues?  
>- Doi. It`s all about recognition, Kim Possible. No more then that. I merely wish to prove that I can perform an act of mind-twisting science noone else dared to, yet.<br>- Bwuh... You`re crazy...

There was hardly anything Kim could say at the moment, in her opinion. It was just surreal. Drakken. Turning a desert into fertile land. Insane. Twilight zone. She was suddenly snapped out of her reverie by familiar chime of Kimmunicator. Without thinking, she thumbed it on, automatically.

- Kim!.. Kim! Oh. Thank godness, I`ve finally reached you!  
>- Hey, Wade... Drakken`s kinda got us locked out... And he claims that he didn`t destroy anything.<br>- ...GAH. So you know what happened?  
>- Sort of... I think.<br>- I`ve never seen that coming. Talk about getting blindsided. There`s an uproar all over news. NORAD`s in the hot water for lying about nuke, and Nevada is considering naming Drakken hero of the state for single-handedly increasing average land value over two times.  
>- BUT! How`d everyone...<br>- ...Anonymous letters to all major TV companies, newspapers, radio stations, podcasts, younameit. Arrived five minutes after Las Vegas began official evacuation. I`ve tried to contact you, but you`ve already gone under radar. Whole country`s on it`s ears, now. At first, people demanded more nukes to be launched AT Drakken, but then this stuff started growing, and... It`s crazy. Army got Geiger counters all over the Las Vegas, but not even one is signaling - so now people are all about Drakken being misunderstood genius finally breaking through bureaucracy and corruption of government to benefit humanity.  
>- Come ON! How many times had we busted him for world-conquering stuff?<br>- People don`t care! They see Death Valley turning green with grass and go "Drakken`s a genius."... And darnit, I have to admit he IS. This is big, Kim. Noone ever even thought about trying that in laboratory scale, let alone successfully implement this in practice. Add to this that he used a NUKE, and... It`s mind-boggling.  
>- What`s going on, Wade?<br>- ...Riots, Kim. Noone thought it`s possible at all. Now Drakken goes and uses a fragging nuke to terraform desert into lush meadows. People go BONKERS over this. They`re accusing government of keeping this under secret so they could tax people for billions for nuclear disarmament, when those nukes could be used as is to turn Earth into paradise. If this terraforming is permanent effect, he just might become a ruler of Earth by New Year!

Cheerleader paled. That was not the news she`d want to hear. Glancing up, she met Shego`s gaze. Distant and calculating, yet not inherently hostile... Very alien, expecially so for jalapeno-tempered woman she brawled just this morning. Kim felt goosebumps on her skin. It ought to be nightmare. It had to be. It MUST be. In trance, she shifted her gaze to blue scientist. Drakken was smiling.

- Guess I won for once? Take that, Possible. I knew my day would come!  
>- ..Dr. D? As much as this gloating is therapeutic for you, it`s wrong Possible. Best save some of the mocking for John Possible, Chen and Ramesh. Keep in mind that you`ll be holding press-conference in the evening.<br>- I will be?...  
>- Eighty three percents are in favor of it happening around six o`clock today. If not, chances of it not happening before midnight are negligibly low. The people would want to hear the story from the mouth of the horse, so to speak. I`d suggest you retire to your study and review the cue cards for planes B and C.<br>- B or C, huh? Why did I even bothered writing plan A then, I want to know?  
>- To be prepared for the possibility of NORAD quaranteening Las Vegas to keep the story hushed.<br>- Oh, right... Wait, why not plan D, then?  
>- Because plan D accounted for possibility of unanimous acception and approval of your actions. As far as I remember, it`s decisive truefalse criteria was "Kim Possible kisses Dr. Drakken`s shoes and proclams him the benefactor of universe".  
>- Heheheheheeee...<br>- EW! You... you... dirty lechers! UUGH!

Kim stomped her foot in indignation, as Drakken snickered more at her. Then she noticed Shego grinning, and groaned. Did they... rehearse the damn joke or something? Cognitive dissonance gave redhead a splitting headache. She wanted to just curl up, put a pillow over her head and wish that crazy world away. Preferably, permanently.

- Oh well. You are right as always, Shego. Would you mind...  
>- ...Settling the matters with our miscreant adversaries while you refresh your public speech? Yes, I`ll handle that, Dr. D, don`t worry about that.<br>- Very well, then, I leave them at the mercy of your capable mind, Shego. Toodles.

With that, mad scientist disappeared behind the door, cheerful as a lark. Heroes followed him with incredulous stares. For a few moments, silence reigned. And then Rufus sneezed. Tearing her eyes from the door, Kim turned her head back to look at Shego.

- Time for exposition, Pumpkin. 


	5. Superpower

Chapter 5. Superpower.

(A month later.)

- Wait, wait, stop! Segnorita Possible, who do you think you are to place such demands on our nation? Do you honestly expect us to consent to this atrocity? Testing YOUR nuclear weapons on our homeland? This is outrageous. Mexico will never submit to this!  
>- For the fifth time, we don`t want to test any weapons. We offer to utilise nuclear missiles for large scale terraforming of Baja California and Chihuahua. Those regions were the ones most damaged during the drug wars. Provided those states will undergo terraforming at expected rate, we`re planning second-stage terraforming of Guerrero, Michoacan, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon to erase most of damage done by drug cartels.<br>- And for the fifth time I`m telling you - this is no less then a declaration of war! How can you possibly expect Mexican people to go along with destruction of six states!  
>- ...Oh, I see. Senor Augusto Pereira de Guzman, for the record... could you please state your definition of the term "terraforming"?<br>- Madre de dios! Segnorita Possible, this is not the time to engage in argument about semantics!  
>- I insist. It appears that you fail to comprehend the exact terms offered.<br>- Oh, for... I define terraforming as drastic change of geographic region incurred by artificial means.  
>- Would that include the consequence of war, per any chance?<br>- Are you threatening us with war now! Careful there, segnorita Possible. We do not take lightly to threats.  
>- I`m talking about heavy damage done to biosphere of aforementioned states during the Drug War you were conducting in the last decade. Most notably, contamination of Tijuana area with sandpox virus and ground water poisoning with uranium salts in northern Chihuahua. According to your definition, it`s bona fide terraforming, and it`s caused by war efforts.<br>- And now you want to give us MORE of that terraforming?  
>- On the contrary, we`re offering you a fast efficient way to clean up the artificial damage and bolster the natural repopulation of damaged areas with indigenious species.<br>- By blasting contaminated areas into irradiated sand?  
>- No. Nuclear device is just a part of large-scale program. Due to humongous amount of energy needed to kickstart the terraforming and overabundance of nuclear warheads destined for decomission, using nuclear explosion is most cost-efficient way of doing this.<br>- And what about the damage from nuclear explosion itself?  
>- Do you see any damage around?<br>- ...What?  
>- First terraforming took place right here, ambassador. Explosion went off right above Las Vegas. Look around and ask yourself - do you want your country to benefit from the same? A month ago, this was but a barren desert. Now, it`s lush meadow.<br>- But...  
>- Still feel dubious? Visit Pittsburgh. You`ve been there a few years ago, I believe, so take a gander now, and tell me if you spot a difference, heh. Terraforming of Rust Belt is slated to be over by the end of this week - Pittsburgh was one of the first areas to be cleaned up.<br>- But still, I can`t just consent to let you bomb my country with impunity, segnorita Possible... As noble, as the goal may seem.  
>- That`s quite alright with us. Frankly, we wouldn`t expect you to consent to anything at least until your independant experts had a chance to examine the mechanics of terraforming.<br>- Even so? USA is willing to divulge this technology, just like that?  
>- Why not? Technically, this technology is property of Dr. Lipsky - who happens to be independant country of himself and select citizens. USA is receiving this technology as diplomatic gift from the Drakken Empire, just like you.<br>- Ah, the infamous doctor Drakken. He did develop the technology, did he not?  
>- Quite right. Provided you don`t reject our offers off the bat, he will be present at our next meeting to present you with comprehensive data on the technology and it`s effects.<br>- It seems quite strange to me you are representing him right now, segnorita Possible, considering your mutual animosity in the past.  
>- Water under the bridge, ambassador. As all geniuses, good doctor is quite an eccentric man, and for the long time, that trait kept him at odds with law. While I do maintain that being eccentric is not an excuse for criminal activity, in my opinion dr. Lipsky paid back his debt to world society in full by releasing terraforming technology to all of the world for free. For all his quirkiness, there is no indication that dr. Lipsky was ever involved in murder, rape or large-scale embezzling... So common consensus of the people of USA was to grant him full and immediate pardon for benefitting whole of humanity in such a way. In fact, by and large USA had sworn an allegiance to the Drakken Empire. Hardly a surprise, considering that terraforming is not the only benefit that`s being offered by joining in.<br>- We`re aware of that, if quite dubious, segnorita Possible. The idea of centralised government seems quite an outdated concept in modern age. Is the world really that desperate to ask for an emperor?  
>- Heh. Ultimately, dr. Lipsky himself is an emperor only in the sense of being the founder of Empire. Actual governing is performed by Echelon Seven.<br>- Isn`t that secret information?  
>- No, not really. Why would it be? Echelon VII is not a spy network anymore, it`s an information aggregator. Access to it`s databases is available for a nominal fee... Or for free, if you happen to be citizen of Drakken Empire.<br>- All information without exclusion?  
>- All secular and encyclopedic data, yes. Privacy-encroaching data is not accessible... Unless you are Echelon VII, that is.<br>- Aren`t you a part of it, segnorita Possible?  
>- Why, yes, I am. A half of it, more or less. I do believe you`ve heard the story by now.<br>- Er... Yes. It`s been quite a.. sensation.  
>- Well, someone had to do that, you know. Sheila can not be neither trusted nor burdened with the fate of whole world alone. It was only fitting to shuttle half of the problem onto her direct rival.<br>- Sheila?  
>- Sheila Go. Shego. The original Echelon Five. Dr. Lipsky procured the entirety of Echelon Four database in one of his capers... But due to my intervention, all of that data ended up crammed into Sheila. I imagine it was quite a rough experience.<br>- I`d say. Suddenly knowing everything in the world. Most people would probably go insane on the spot.  
>- Luckily for her, she never was a token of normalcy, so... Anyway, database alone, as extensive as it was, would be pretty worthless - information is changing every moment. This is where Dr. Lipsky achieved his greatest feat of genius, by the way - not only developing means for memory uploading, but also figuring out a way to alter one`s body and mind to enable tapping directly into infosphere.<br>- Excuse me?  
>- Yep. People experimented with telepathy a lot in this century. Borthel`s moodulator chip is ostensibly the closest hit that achieved any publicity. Lipsky`s effect surpasses that by far, using a different principle altogether. It`s not exactly clear how it works, not even to good doctor himself, but the gist of it is that affected person becomes information void, of sorts. Any communications, data - anything with enthropy below hundred percent is.. visible, of sorts. Of course, there are limitations to that, but... Frankly, the exact workings of this are best left to scientists and possibly theologists. In practical terms, Echelon Seven is omniscient. And before you ask - yes, I do know what you`re thinking right now. And no, counting odd numbers only isn`t going to throw me off. Heh... And no, I can`t force you to think something without using old-fashioned persuasion, intimidation or lies.<br>- ...Madre de dios. Well... Um. This is... unsettling.  
>- But also demonstrates quite abundantly why Echelon Seven works as centralised government. Practical omniscience means sharp drop in crime levels, for once. For twice, impartial mediation is quite achievable, right now.<br>- Impartial? Signorita Possible, even with all the knowledge in the world, are you not a person?  
>- No, not really. Kim is there, yes, but so are billions of other people. Data is data, ambassador. The sum of your mind`s content ultimately defines what kind of person you are. So, I have no choice but to be impartial - I hold the sum of whole world in my head.<br>- A big burden to carry, I`m sure.  
>- Possibly. But anything is possible... And not just to Possibles, it seems.<p>

Kim walked out of the embassy, and stretched, taking in the view. Even a month after, it was invigorating. And promising. Who`d think that Drakken would be the one to usher in a new age for humanity? And yet, there she was, doing missionary work for him. The habitually tapped her temple, as if trying to talk on headset. That little ritual helped her concentrate better on her new capacities, which were decisively superhuman. "S, achieved confirmation. Prep D for presentation. ETA?"

- Tomorrow, 3 PM.  
>- What today?<br>- Russia.  
>- Russia? Why?<br>- Jumped the shark. Were testing similar tech in Siberia. Didn`t pan out quite as well, were using heat projectors. Are quite eager to contribute the nukes.  
>- The catch?<br>- They talk to PLA about joint agricultural effort. Russia provides terraformed lands in Siberia, China - workers.  
>- Efficiency prediction at 87%? Didn`t they fail steel collaboration of fifties?<br>- Cremlin believes chinese are better at growing rice then they are in making steel.  
>- Could work. Where are you at?<br>- Beijing, waiting for chairman.  
>- SYN.<br>- ACKSYN.  
>- ACK.<p>

She shook her head and stepped into the limo. "Airport." - time was always of the essence. Redhead leaned back as she processed information. Next, meeting in Paris. Europe would be probably the hardest nut to crack, per ce, but she was quite confident they could get people onboard with new project in development. Project Venus.

Meanwhile, dr. Lipsky savored his ongoing success. At last, he had the attention of the world. Brightest and most gifted, all sitting there before him, hanging to his every word as he elaborated on the delicacies of refocusing nuclear blast into constructive venue. Ever since he caught the attention of humanity in Las Vegas, blue scientist felt different. He could not tell if it was the result of success or the efforts of Shego, but he felt better then ever. Gone was the stutter, the agitation, the maddening feeling of inadequacy, replaced by confidence and quiet pride in his ideas.

"...and so, as you can see on figure five, most of garbage radiation is spent on graphite particles in the cloud. That allows for most effective distribution of emission, as it`s not cast on area directly but rather delivered by proxy. Depending on the geochemical makeup of the region, graphite can be doped with lantanides to increase or decrease responce to specific wavelengths of emission, and thus fine-tune the overall diffusion." - he finished with fluorish, and bowed slightly, taking a sip of water. After a second, he was rewarded with polite, but quite honest applauding. Now, he would be answering the questions. He couldn`t wait to begin. 


End file.
